This invention relates to firearms aiming devices, and more particularly to laser sights for long guns.
Firearm-mounted illuminators or laser sights have proven effective for aiming firearms in many applications. This includes handgun grip-mounted laser devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,091, entitled Handgun Sighting Device, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. The terms illuminator and sights are used interchangeably to refer to narrow beam aiming devices, and also to broad-beam illumination devices such as firearm-mounted flashlights used for illuminating dark spaces for navigation, or for identifying targets. These terms may also include broad and narrow beam infrared and other wavelength emitters used to identify or aim using night vision devices.
Laser sights and illuminators are well known for use on long guns such as tactical rifles and shotguns employed by military and police agencies. Such devices are normally mounted at the forward end of a long gun, forward of the forearm or grip surface where the user""s weak or non-trigger hand rests. For convenient control, a switch is mounted near the device, and operable by the user applying pressure with the forward hand.
While effective in some instances, the forward mounted devices have the disadvantage in that they require two hands for operation: one to operate the trigger, and one to operate the laser device. This renders the operator less effective in instances in which it might be strategically advantageous to have a free hand for operating or carrying other equipment, for feeling a path in a dark or obscured place, or when one hand is injured.
Grip-mounted laser sights for handguns are operable with one hand, by using a pressure switch on the grip, and thus freeing the second hand for other tasks. However, these devices are unsuitable for use on long guns where the weak hand normally grips the forward portion of the gun, and thus would tend to obstruct the laser beam. The option of positioning the laser device at the front of the gun, and the switch at the rear of the gun would permit one-handed operation, but would require either a specially manufactured gun with imbedded or protected switch wires, or the substantial risk that exposed wires extending from the front to the hand grip would be susceptible to damage during rough operation, including operation of exposed bolt or pump action handles. The option of positioning an illuminator above the axis of a gun barrel in the position of a rifle scope is disadvantageous because it obscures the conventional mechanical xe2x80x9cironxe2x80x9d sights of the gun, or at least renders them less effective for rapid target acquisition in critical circumstances, partially blocking the user""s view of the target. Other optical sighting systems may likewise be obscured. The present invention overcomes the limitations of the prior art by providing an illumination device for a firearm. The device has a first hand grip position adjacent to a trigger for a firearm with a second hand grip forward of the first grip position and having a gripping surface. The device includes a first hand grip operable for connection to the gun at the first hand grip position. An illumination source is connected to first the hand grip, and has an optical axis. The optical axis is positioned as an elevated level above a major portion of the gripping surface of the second hand grip, or above a horizontal plane defined by the axis of the barrel. The device may be a laser attached to an upwardly protruding portion of a protruding pistol grip, with an integral switch on the grip, or may be part of a conventional rifle butt stock, with the switch located on a narrowed portion of the stock.